Expat in Iloilo needs O+

[Jollygoodfellow]

21 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

If he waits for foreigners to donate he may have a helluva time. 

Didn't we discuss this once where Asian blood types are not the same as westerners or am I mixed up? 

[Dave Hounddriver]

46 minutes ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

Didn't we discuss this once where Asian blood types are not the same as westerners or am I mixed up? 

Not sure but ever since my blood transfusion I don't mind the smell of dried fish so much. 

22 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

I am pleased to tell that a filipino's blood now runs through my veins and I am none the worse for it.

 

[bigpearl]

12 hours ago, Queenie O. said:

Last year when my husband was in a motorcycle accident and needed blood for a surgery on his lacerated knee. I was told that another hospital might possibly have a stock, as they had none of his type in their blood  bank. In the lobby, a hospital worker approached me and told me that a fellow hospital worker had my husband's type, and would be willing to donate. I agreed and he came in to the blood bank that night, but his blood pressure was slightly elevated, and he didn't qualify.  He came in the next morning, and having an acceptable reading now ,so he qualified at their hospital blood bank, and gave his blood donation. It seems that this is routinely done at this hospital with staff. I believe that my husband agreed on the fee and paid him 2000 pesos. The young man had to go in for screening and fast for a time to qualify. It was less hassle for us and we were glad to have the option. We paid a small fee for his testing and blood withdrawal at the blood bank. This might be an option for some. They told my husband that even better if he had two units for his surgery, but he just went with the one, and waited over time to naturally replace his own blood back.

Interesting Queenie and well appointed, I dearly hope I am never in a similar situation though for 2, 4 0r 10,000 pesos one would do this for a loved one or self.

Cheers, Steve.

Edited November 9, 2017 by bigpearl

[MikeB]

Best to get your ducks lined up by asking around before the need arises. I was only in the country a few months when I needed 5 units of O+ for emergency surgery and they said they didn't have. This was at Chong Hua, the biggest hospital in the region I believe. I'm glad they lost their western accreditation cuz they certainly deserved to. Wife went through hell trying to get blood for me and then they said "nevermind, we have it". The blood she bought from Red Cross was rejected because it tested positive for hepatitis (they said). A real eye-opener.

[Gentleman.Jack.Darby]

3 hours ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

Didn't we discuss this once where Asian blood types are not the same as westerners or am I mixed up? 

It's not that Asian blood types are not the same as westerners, it's the distribution by type that differs from the West.

For example, my blood type is O Neg and according to a chart on Wikipedia, only 0.1% of the Filipino population has that type, while in the U.S., it's 6.6%

In Thailand, the distribution is 0.2%

Once I became aware of the relative rarity of my type in SE Asia, it's given me a major thing to consider while planning my retirement there.

And I was a bit surprised, but glad to know, about the difficulty of getting donations of even relatively common types in the PI - that's a risk I want to know about BEFORE I get there.

It reminded me of something our minister said while going through counseling prior to getting married:

"Sex is only 10% of a marriage, but boy what a big 10%"

[Jollygoodfellow]

7 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

Not sure but ever since my blood transfusion I don't mind the smell of dried fish so much. 

OK

 Whatever but I thought there was some differences. 

[GeoffH]

5 hours ago, Gentleman.Jack.Darby said:

For example, my blood type is O Neg and according to a chart on Wikipedia, only 0.1% of the Filipino population has that type, while in the U.S., it's 6.6%

I have read figures that suggest that O- is 7% in Australia so very similar, I had no idea that it was so rare in SE Asia.

It is definitely something that us O- blood types need to be aware of, thanks for the information.

[Queenie O.]

In our case at this particular small private hospital, it just didn't seem that they had much stocks of any variety, them saying that more common types went out of supply more quickly. It was evening already, and they suggested that I take a taxi and go to some of the other hospitals in Cebu City to see if there was stock. We were in Consolacion Cebu because that was the closest in the emergency by ambulance from the northern province, and the city was a ways away. I thought that was ridiculous,  so I was relieved when the hospital worker donation suggestion was offered.

Edited November 9, 2017 by Queenie O.

[Mike J]

According to wikipedia the distribution of blood types in the Philippines is as follows:

O+ = 36.9%

A+ = 28.9%

B+ = 26.9%

AB+ = 6.97%

O- = .1%

A- = .1%

B- = .1%

AB- = .03%

So using the the above data and the chart below you can get an idea of the relative difficulty in getting compatible blood if required.  For example I am A+ and could use O+, A+,O-,A- as a recipient.  In theory approximately 66% of the Philippine population would be considered a viable donor for my blood type.  It appears that the people with a negative blood type would be the most at risk of not being able to get a compatible blood type.  Here is the wiki URL if you want to see the distribution in other countries.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_type_distribution_by_country

 

[Dave Hounddriver]

6 hours ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

I thought there was some differences. 

The way I look at it, if a Filipino emigrated to Canada and eventually became a Canadian then walked into the Red Cross to donate;  His blood would be accepted and put in the same blood bank as the Somali-Canadians, the Brit-Canadians, the native-Canadians and any other Canadians who came in to donate. So unlikely there are differences provided the blood is properly screened for potential problems.